fishing. >> good luck, right? >> thanks for jo tonight on "world news," the plunge in home sales. s. all-time low. typhow you the typical american house, and what it's worth tonight. the alert. rokeesion jeep cherokees under investigation. a question abo a question about exploding fuel tanks. supplies for kids going back to school no to school now include mops and toilet paper. parents are stunned. and, regret. did one answer cost this woman the miss universe crown? the miss how would you answer the question? what was the biggest mistake in your life? >> good evening. a house of your own is still the foundation of the american in,m. a house you were raised in, a house you passed down to your ourldren. aut a stunning number today hases something has changed.

homes simply are not selling. last month, despite all the fforts to stimulate the conomy, sales collapsed. down more than 27%, a record drop. and so much worse than anyone predicted. predicted. david muir spent the day looking at a at a typical american home to show us what's happening. >> reporter: in fact, diane, 's no s no question for the dlerican middle class that there neverver a more reliable place to get a return on your investment than owning your own stment than but when it comes time to cash a buou need a buyer. a rs a record plunge. homeowners across this country imply unable to find buyers. >> i don't think we've ever seen seenp of this magnitude. mareporter: economists expected kidrop of some kind, but not that 27% decline in sales from th line in july. what's behind it? what's behind at ployment stagnant at 9.5%, for homeredits for home buyers sunning out. the median home price in this pr country now stands at just above just $182,000, nearly flat from a year ago, in a country now suffering a housing hangover. >> the days of the house being

an atm machine for a typical homeowner are over. >> reporter: and so are the quickly rising home values, too. >> between 20% and 30% increases, which were clearly unsustainable. >> reporter: it's a sea change for the american middle class. families who for so long looked at their home as their best chance for a big return on their investment. ever since the post-war housing boom in the 1950s. in fact, one of those homes, we zeroed in on today. so typical for the time, on 7th north street, just outside syracuse new york. a three bedroom home, attached garage, hardwood floors. but realtor bill cross can't sell it. >> this has been the bread and butter type of house that most of middle america has always lived in. >> reporter: in 1994, it sold for $48,000. a decade later, doubled. $85,000. by this year, the value reaching $107,000. but it wouldn't sell. not at $79,900, and last week, reduced again to $64,900.

there are signs everywhere like this. good for buyers, economists say, if you ask for very important question. how long will you stay? >> if you're a first-time home buyer is planning to be in the house at least five years, five to ten years, then, it's almost a no-brainer that now is a good time to be in the marketplace. we haven't seen rates that low in the past 30, 40 years. >> but for the seller, of course, we saw how much that house mremented. so how much value was lost all told? >> reporter: that's what i asked economists today. six years, they say, on average, for the american homeowner. your home worth what it was in 2004 if you listed it today. we lost a lot. >> and a big change from when some of us grew up. thank you, david muir. and now news tonight about one of the most popular suvs on the road. federal safety officials have just announced they are looking at 3 million jeep grand cherokees made before 2004, after allegations that fuel tanks may explode. and abc's lisa stark is with us. take us through it, lisa. >> reporter: well, diane, this is one of those older model jeep

grand cherokees. and here's the concern, the location of the fuel tank, you can see it hangs below the rear bumper, partly exposed here. and the center for auto safety, a consumer group, says in rear-end crashes and some rollovers, what can happen is this tank can rupture and cause a deadly fire. and, in fact, the center for auto safety has looked at government numbers and says it believes there have been at least 254 deaths attributed to this fuel tank problem. now, we should say, starting in 2005, chrysler redesigned the jeep grand cherokee and, in fact, they moved the fuel tank much further forward. the automaker says that wasn't because of safety, it was simply a redesign. and chrysler is also defending the vehicle, saying it meets or exceeds all federal safety standards and has an excellent safety record. but the government now is taking a closer look. it wants to know if this is a safety defect or if these vehicles need to be recalled.

>> so what does that mean for everybody, tonight, lisa, if you've got one of these pre-2004 made vehicles. do you take it in, try to get the tank moved? >> reporter: well, you can't really do that. some people have suggested maybe a metal plate for protection. but what the center for auto safety is saying that consumers should simply urge the government to recall the vehicles and keep an eye on their rear view mirror. >> want to point out to everyone, again, this is not a recall you're telling us about tonight. it is an investigation. >> reporter: absolutely. >> lisa stark, thanks to you. and moving on now to politics. it's showdown in three states today. voters deciding some closely watched primaries in florida, arizona and alaska, where the self-proclaimed mama grizzly and political force sarah palin has entered the fray, backing a tea party candidate against the sitting republican senator, a woman. how is the palin magic working so far? jonathan karl has a look at the race. >> reporter: earlier this year, sarah palin seemed like a republican king and queen-maker,

helping conditions score a string of victories in hard-fought republican primaries in south carolina, kentucky, california and elsewhere. but lately, palin has been in a slump. since july 20th, six palin-supported conditions have been on the ballot, and all six have lost. overall, in competitive primaries this year, half her conditions have lost, and half have won. tonight, we are about to find out how much clout she has in her own backyard. she's trying to unseat alaska's incumbent republican senator, lisa murkowski. instead supporting joe miller, a tea partier known to attract heavily-armed supporters at his political rallies. >> he's got the backbone to confront obama's radical agenda. by contrast, lisa murkowski has voted with the democrats, more than any republican up for re-election this year. >> reporter: miller is one of the most right wing senate conditions in the in the country this year. he wants to do away with unemployment benefits. for her part, murkowski has the support of most of the

republican establishment, though she is not as conservative as miller. whatever happens in alaska, the tea party movement has already had a big impact on the republican party this year. so far, tea partiers have emerged as the republican candidates of choice in more than a third of this year's top senate races. >> interesting race up there in alaska, tonight, jon, but let me ask you about another one in arizona, which proves, in a way, that you're never too old for parents to come in and help try to throw you a life raft in the middle of the campaign? >> reporter: yeah, we're talking about ben quayle here, the son of former vice president dane quail. he had been the front-runner in a crowded republican party for the house, but he has taken a beating lately, over allegations he wrote for a pornographic website. now, his parents, dan and marilyn quayle, are running to his rescue, or at least trying to. and they have put out a letter, dan quayle has put out a letter just yesterday, saying, i cannot remain silent. i have never in my 35 years in politics seen such an ugly,

slanderous assault in the closing days of a campaign against a fellow republican. but diane, it may not be enough. although ben has vastly outspend the other candidates in that race, now going into the election today, he is no longer considered the front-runner. in fact, he's something of an underdog. >> and mom and dad weighing in. thank you, jon karl. and i know you're going to be watching the races and filing online the results as they happen. a big new warning tonight from the cdc about those tainted eggs. a half billion of them recalled. experts warn to expect more cases of illness, maybe tens of thousands of cases. and around the newsroom, we had a question. if you spill egg on a counter, how long does salmonella live on the kitchen counter, if you've opened that tainted egg? steve osunsami has some practical answers for us tonight. >> reporter: already, more than 1,200 people have gotten sick, and today, scientists from the cdc told abc news that tens of thousands more could get sick from contaminated eggs. >> this is a large outbreak there's no doubt about that.

it compares to some of the bigger outbreaks that we would have seen due to this type of organism back in the 1980 and 1990s. >> reporter: the cdc predicts the vast majority of cases will go unreported, but 1 in 5 who get sick from this strain will need to be hospitalized. scientists haven't figured out the source of the contamination, but have identified infecting infected hens that have been laying infected eggs, which inclui includes the yolk and whites inside. health officials say that exposure to salmonella from an infected egg can happen instantly. when you touch or crack open an egg and it gets on your hands. it can spread so easily, it only takes one bad egg to infect a meal, a restaurant or a factory. and it's impossible to see. salmonella on a countertop is invisible. and there's no smell. a small spot can be home to plenty of disease, enough to make a whole family sick. >> hundreds of millions of cells in each one of these dark circles that you see. >> reporter: this experiment from "good morning america"

showed how easily salmonella can spread in a kitchen after a meal after wiping everything down. the kitchen appeared spotless, but when we turned off the lights, a uv ray revealed dozens of hot spots. the bacteria doubles every 20 minutes. in one government study, this particular strain survived on some surfaces for up to four days. nearly as long as the more deadly e. coli bacteria. >> takes less than 100 to about 100,000 cells to make someone sick. >> reporter: health officials say that plain old soap and water kills salmonella the best on all surfaces. steve osunsami, abc news, atlanta. >> last up to four days on a counter. and overseas now, to new details about the 33 miners facing many weeks or months of life trapped underground. once contact was made, what was one of the first requests from the miners? toothbrushes. abc's jeffrey kofman is at the scene of the mine. >> reporter: if those trapped miners are going to be

liberated, this drill that arrived at the site this afternoon is their best hope. chile's minister of mines spoke to one of the trapped miners. "how are you feeling," he asks. "we are fine," says the miner. "we are waiting to be rescued." the men don't yet know that drilling that rescue hole could take four months. officials worry that the news will demoralize them. for now, the men are euphoric. singing chile's national anthem for all to hear. we now know that the men were found just in time. their meager emergency food supply would have ran out tomorrow. the miners meticulously rationed that food for 17 days. each was allowed two spoons of tuna, half a biscuit and half a cup of milk once every two days. rescuers estimate the men have each lost close to 20 pounds. which is why the first supply tube sent down contained 33 jars of glucose and 33 doses of stomach medicine. one for each miner. one of their first requests?

toothbrushes. just how to keep the men in good mental and physical health while the rescue hole is drilled is now a priority. these men face the prospect of being entombed for months. what will they face? thomas spent 78 hours trapped in the queue creek mine in pennsylvania in 2002. >> it was hell was what it was. name of the game is, you never give up. up just have to hope and pray and hope the good lord's going to follow through. >> reporter: being trapped underground for months is unprecedented. but the families here say with confidence that their men will make it. "there can be no wait with more anguish than the one we have just gone through," says this woman, of the wait for word that the men were alive. "they are strong, and they know we are sending our love. i came to bring him home." government officials do want to let family members talk to their loved ones trapped in that hill, but first, they want to tell the miners that rescue will not be imminent. they are struggling with how to

do that and exactly when. diane? >> hard news to deliver. thank you, jeffrey. and we have a milestone to report tonight in the long war in iraq. word today that the number of u.s. troops there is now below 50,000 for the first time since the war began 7 1/2 years ago, when 90,000 u.s. troops first moved in. the white house says president obama will deliver a major address on iraq a week from today. and still ahead on "world news," books, pencils and mops? back to school supplies 2010. and, look who's talking. can you guess which americans talk the most on their cell phones? and the miss universe contestant. when is it a mistake not to admit a mistake? hi. we're ready to switch our car insurance to progressive.

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[ jackie ] i asked my doctor about toviaz. and today i'm looking forward to my daughter's wedding. [ female announcer ] why wait? ask about toviaz today. the best time to crack it... twirl it... dunk it... and discover more new ways than ever to enjoy crab. starting at $14.99, only during crabfest... ends soon at red lobster. some states won big today. the government awarded $3.4 billion to nine states and washington, d.c. in round two of the competitive education contest known as the race to the hep. top. two states, tennessee and delaware, have already received andy, and the program rewards states for making sweeping school reform. it's part of president obama's stimulus plan. me many money is, of course, so of the in so many school districts because of the ad been.

his week, we had been looking differencference this year, problems facing schools across the country as students head on.k after summer vacation. and we've been struck by the an number of districts cutting back ies andlies and forcing parents theick up the slack. encils?linsey davis. >> reporter: pencils? check. notebook? check. toilet paper? toilet paper? buying back to buying back to school basics did you say you sic. did you say you have toilet es, you have tlist? >> yes, you have toilet paper, napkins. eporter: wr: with state budgets shrinking, many schools are asking parents to buy a lot more than glue sticks to hold it all together. on this year's checklist, dixie cups and paper plates in joshua, st. joseph eleme mops and plastic utensils in moody,e. and first graders in moody, alabama, have to bring in garbage bags. >> to expect all the parents to t all thet kind of money is f money ir a lot. just laser: what concerns bilnts like peter is, just last

g.ek, schools got $10 billion in uergency government funding. ut instead of using it to pay ies orpplies or hire back rs, some, some districts are canding the money, hoping it could prevent future layoffs. >> they said, well, we might not ugh money nextney next year so we'll just not do anything this we'll just ave oneesn't make any sense. a kid only has one year to be a first grader. >> reporter: we did some of our own.our own. the average family spends $96 on required school supplies. on early 10% more than last year. parentslaces parents aren't picking up the bill, teachers like ralph are digging even deeper. >> before school's even started i spent about $400. >> reporter: really? of your own money? >> of my own money. >> reporter: so kids' back to school backpacks will be carrying a much heavier load his year. be carrying vier load esson in economics. linsey davis, abc news, new return, a and when we return, a riddle for you. a question. which americans talk the most which amer and text the most on cell phones?

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the nielsen company has crunched the numbers. the south talks more than the rest of the country. mysteriously, african-americans talk twice as much as whites. 44 minutes a day versus 22. women talk 22% more than men. and teenagers, on average, send or receive 92 text messages a day. while making old fashioned phone calls less than their parents. and in new jersey, a horse race for the ages, and not just because it was close. two horses going down to the wire. one was named, no kidding, my wife doesn't know. the other was named, my wife knows everything. listen. >> my wife knows everything in front. to the outside the wife doesn't know. my wife knows everything. the wife doesn't know. my wife knows everything. more than the wife doesn't know. >> and so it was decided. by the way, the horses had different owners, different breeding, but linked now by one

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tureshed with pictures of this woman, from mexico, who won the miss universe pageant in las miss universe e interested inerested in a ntestant, who wstant, who was stion about theion about the biggest mistake in her life. a question asked in a lot of job ot ofviews. rightre a right answer? sharyn alfonsi reports. >> reporter: she was favored to oin. bikini, negotiating platform heels and a bikini, and then came the question. that question that stopped her in her stilettos. in her >> what is one big mistake that that made in your life. ears ofy 22 years of existence, can say that there is nothing major, iajor, i mean, problem that i have done in my life. thank you so much that i am m re. >> reporter: no answer, no answer, she took fifth. she's not the only one who she's not d with that questit question. >> what would your biggest >> what would mistake be? ofi wish you would have given s jobis written question ahead of time.

>> reporter: presidents, countless job applicants, even our our colleagues, who ask t.estions for a living -- >> thanks, mr. president. >> reporter: have a hard time answering that one. >> um -- >> t >> today? or like ever? not atainly not anything i'm going to say to you on national television. wa um -- waxing. why isrter: why is it that smart people have such a hard smart people have time with that question. >> well, no one wants to admit es.y make mistakes. n experrter: so, be prepared, and pick an experience where you need to beething. >> you need to be honest but you your have to bear your soul. >> reporter: even in a sea of perfection, admitting one's perfecti flaws might have been the perfect answer. sharyn alfonsi, abc news, new nerk. >> and we'd love to hear from you. how you would tackle that uestion. what is honest, but not so honest that you embarrass embarrass abcnews.bcnews.com, or our with ok page, and share with oughts. of your thoughts. may share with people here in the newsroom may share with you,

g well. hope you have a great night and a wonderful day tomorrow and that we see you back here re orrow night. good night. score. ing temperatures fueling a wildfire burning out of control right now on the far east bay. >> record heat continues along with heat advisory for parts of the bay area. i'll show you wr. -- where. >> double trouble tonight for education in california. why the state is withholding money that it takes to run

your local schools. >> and a rare look inside iron mountain. clean up of one of the most-polluted places on the planet. >> this is a live picture where a late afternoon wildfire now spread across 100 acres of brush and grassland. >> it's threatening rural homes and outbuildings. firefighters are on the scene tonight, fighting this. >> there is a crew nearby ask we'll get to that as soon as we can. this fire has grown quickly to more than 100 acres this afternoon. the heat has been intense, over 100 degrees in that area. >> now, we want to give you a puck tour where this fire is burning. it's along morgan territory incurry canyon roads on the east side of mount diablo near clayton. >> joining us now on the telephone to talk with this is kimberly french with the fire